Kingdom Hearts: Aftermath
by Naki-dono
Summary: The story of Kingdom Hearts continues after Sora and Riku return to Destiny Islands, going back to being normal teenagers. In any case, the teens won't admit how boring it is. Just when their average day is about to continue, Sora collapses after hearing Roxas's voice in his head!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sora woke up to the sound of a continuous buzz from his alarm clock. Annoyed, he slammed his hand on the snooze button to silence it, deciding that it'd be better to get up now before his mom came up and got him. He ran his fingers through his messy spiked brown hair. This wasn't going to be fun combing out.

It had been a week since he had returned to Destiny Islands from defeating the darkness. As glad as he was to be back home, he missed the adventure that had taken place in his life. He had developed a sense of independence, and he had made new friends with each new world that he, Donald, and Goofy had visited. Even though fighting heartless wasn't a piece of cake, it was something that he had grown accustomed to. With the darkness defeated, there was no need for him to wield the Keyblade anymore. The darkness would never truly fade away, but how would he be able to get to other worlds if the darkness were to spread once again? He didn't have the help of Donald and Goofy's Gummy Ship any longer. He was stuck on Destiny Islands… forever.

Sora suddenly felt a chill up his back as he remembered that Riku had mentioned something similar before their whole adventure began, when the two of them and Kairi built their raft to go see other worlds. Sora shook his head of the memory and got up from his bed. He headed over to his closet and opened it up to retrieve his school uniform. The white dress shirt, blue pants and tie didn't exactly scream "him," but at least he only had to wear it to school. Right next to it hung his previously worn clothes from his past journey. The black outfit felt like it was calling out to him, but Sora ignored it's beckoning. Closing his closet door, he headed to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for the day.

Only shortly after stuffing a bowl of cereal into his mouth, Sora heard the doorbell ring. Being the only one left in the house for the morning, he quickly swallowed what was in his mouth and answered it. Sora found Riku standing on his steps as the door swung open, his silver hair in his eyes as he towered over Sora. Riku had always been tall, but still, dear lord! He still couldn't comprehend how much he had grown in the time Sora had been asleep in that pod.

"Hey, ready to head out?" Riku asked kind of neutral.

"Yeah, just have to grab my bag and we can go," Sora answered back with a little more cheer. He stepped back into the house, grabbing his bag sitting by the kitchen chair he sat at for breakfast. Quickly putting his bowl in the sink on his way out, Sora locked the door and the two boys set out to school.

The walk for the first little while was quiet. Riku wasn't too talkative, and Sora wasn't sure if he should break the silence, so he just walked silently beside his friend. He figured that Riku was feeling the same way he did; nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about when he thought about it. He had fought Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas with Riku as well, but for some reason he felt more terrified of his first day back to school. I guess since it had been so long, Sora wasn't sure what to expect. He and Riku were much further behind in their studies than everyone else. Finally at some point, Riku broke the silence. "So, you nervous for our first day back?" Just as Sora thought.

"I'm not if you aren't." He gave Riku a grin.

Riku kind of gave a little chuckle to himself. "Not entirely. I think I'm just more or less worried about having to catch with homework and getting back into that groove of doing it."

"Yeah, we haven't done that in forever. That's going to be tricky to get back into that habit." Sora folded his arms behind his head with a big goofy grin. "Ha, not like we had much a habit for it before our little adventure began."

Giving Sora a little shove, Riku replied, "Speak for yourself. Don't drag me into your procrastination."

"Hey, give me a little credit here. I don't do it all the time."

A little grin escaped Riku's mouth from Sora's humor. Once the mood had mellowed again, they continued their walk in silence until they got to Kairi's to pick her up. The instant the red head came out of her home, she began to properly assemble the boys uniforms to the way they should look. Sora's tie was crooked and Riku had the top button of his shirt undone with his tie stuffed in his pocket, taking no care for it all (he said it felt like he was being suffocated with it on). Once she felt the boys looked proper, they all headed out to school.

"So, are you guys excited for your first day back," Kairi asked them as she got ahead to turn to face both boys. Sora and Riku both looked at each other and back at Kairi.

"Yup, excited," they both said at once. Sora couldn't speak for Riku, but he truly was. Even though it was weird not to battle the heartless any longer, it would be nice to just be a normal kid again.

Kairi smiled. "Good, I'm glad. I can't wait till lunch time. Everyone's missed you two so much. They'll have so much to ask you, so hopefully they don't swarm too much and…" She trailed off to saying something, but Sora drifted to his own thoughts. The thought of people at school suddenly reminded him of the friends he had made along the way… and would probably never see again.

The instant that the trio entered the school, it felt like the entire hall swarmed around them. Riku and Sora had a whole bunch of questions dumped on them at once. They had ran into some of the students that went to their old part of the island to hang out, but aside from that, most of the student body hadn't seen them since they disappeared. Thankfully, Kairi had prepared for this and called upon Selphie to help her create a path so that Riku and Sora could at least make it to their classrooms.

"Wow, I've never seen so many people go crazy over someone before. I mean, I know Sora and Riku have been away for along time, but c'mon." She lightly shoved someone out of her path trying to cut her off to get to Riku who was right behind her.

"Do you guys think this is really necessary?" Riku asked, a little embarrassed by the fact that he had to be escorted to class like this.

Sora looked at the crowd, mainly seeing girls than guys swarming around them. He feared them to be fan girls. "Maybe it might be best to stick with it until the school looses interest in us." He whispered into Riku's ear, "Besides, fan girls can be quite scary when they get to close to something they like." Riku looked around and figured he better not take any chances. One of the girls from the crowd looked like she was going to jump Kairi or Selphie to get to either of them.

Eventually Selphie and Kairi were able to get Riku and Sora to class in one piece. For their first class, they had History. Sora groaned when he received his time table the day before. If it was boring, History would probably be one of his weaker subjects.

A reluctant Sora took his place at his desk while Riku and Kairi did the same. Selphie headed off to her science class before the school bell would ring. The room was filled with chatter, no doubt about the two boys. Sora glanced over at Riku, who sat next to him to see his friend with a somewhat irritated face. They hadn't even started the day and already he was annoyed by all the attention they were receiving. Sora didn't know how much longer he could take it either. He also didn't know what they were going to tell their teachers when they'd all ask the same question "Where have you been all this time?" I guess they could lie like they did for their parents. Like they'd believe "Riku turned evil while I battled the Darkness, then he turned back to being good after I defeated one of the bad guys and helped me close the door to darkness. Apparently he helped to restore my memories after I went to a castle that made me loose them, and then we both teamed up later on and defeated the darkness for what we hope will be for good this time."

Suddenly, Sora's thoughts were interrupted as a girl in the class popped out in front of him out of nowhere. He nearly tilted backwards on his chair from surprise.

"Hey, you're Sora right?" She asked with excitement, her face almost inches from Sora's, which made him a little more than uncomfortable. He back up a bit.

"Yeah, that's me," Sora answered somewhat nervously.

"Wow, I almost didn't recognize you." She giggled, "You look even cuter now than you did befo-"

Kairi had grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away muttering "Honestly" under her breath. Sora felt his face get hot from this sudden bit of flattery. Riku laughed at this, barely dodging on of Sora's textbooks that was aimed for his face. A few other girls were going to try going for Riku while Kairi was distracted, but just as they were about to, the teacher walked into the room with the school bell following shortly after everyone sat down at their desks.

"Hello, students. Today, we have Sora and Riku rejoining school after a long absence, so let's make them feel welcomed back and help them with anything they may need." All the students chimed "Yes, Sir" at the same time.

"Now, let's begin on Lesson 7, on the history of Destiny Islands. Open your textbooks to page 210. Take notes if need be and follow along." He begins to read aloud the lesson to the students, the only other thing you can hear in the room is the scribbling of pens on paper.

"I guess that's it then," Sora thinks to himself. "I shouldn't expect anything more than this everyday." Sora lets out a quiet sigh to himself and tunes into the lesson, joining his classmates in taking notes.

After their morning classes end, Kairi reconvened with Sora and Riku (she had Bio after and they had English). Already, Sora felt his head pounding from all the information trying to be stuffed into his brain. He knew he was behind, but still. Riku was struggling, but he was still getting it more so than Sora was. Envy washed over him as he looked at Riku, trying to read some of "The Crucible" that they were just assigned in their English class.

Kairi slid into her seat next to Sora at the lunch table. "So, were things better in English?"

Sora groaned slightly, "Sort of," pointing at Riku sitting in front of him, "he's having hardly any trouble at all."

"English is easy for me," Riku said in defense as he looked up from his book. "As for History.." he plunged his face back into his book trying to forget the awful hour and a half that took place at the beginning of the day.

"Don't worry," Kairi reassured them, "you two will get the hang of it, and if you're having any trouble, I can help you guys out."

Sora felt a shimmer of hope for his grades. Kairi was probably the only person that he'd let tutor him without him feeling like a total idiot. He gave a little smile, "That'd be great. Thanks Kairi." Sora noticed that she blushed a bit, following it up with a small giggle. He felt his own cheeks begin to feel a little warm.

"It's not trouble at all," she replied, smiling back a soft smile at Sora.

They suddenly heard a little cough come from their silver haired friend, the two directing their attention to it. "Are you two finished?"

"Hey," Sora said in defense, "you're supposed to be reading your book."

Riku brought the book down enough so you could see his turquoise eyes, "I'm hungry, so I'm debating to stop."

Sora felt his own stomach grumble. "I guess we should eat something before our lunch hour's over." He dug around in his backpack and pulled out a stuffed lunch bag.

"God Sora, how much did you pack?" Riku asked with some shock in his voice, placing the book down. Sora opened up his lunch bag to reveal many items that looked like they were forced to fit inside the bag.

"My… my mom packed it," he replied sheepishly. "She thought she'd pack a lot in case, y'know, I got really hungry."

"You could end world hunger with what you've got." Riku pulled out his paper bag lunch from his own bag. He revealed a container with a sandwich, a juice box, a banana and an apple.

"And you look like you could restart it with what you've got." Sora received a smack in the head with Riku's sandwich container.

"Well," Kairi began to say, "unlike the two of you, I have to go buy my lunch today." She stood up from her seat and slid back out to go to the lunch line. "Hopefully I'll be back right away." She gave a wave and went to go stand in the long line of teens, waiting to purchase their lunch.

Sora took out a container with precooked noodles, accompanied chopsticks. "Well, time to eat," he said, snapping his chopsticks and began to devour the lunch before him. Riku followed suit and began to eat some of his sandwich in wait for Kairi's return from the lunch line.

It didn't take as long as she thought. Riku and Sora were halfway through their lunches by the the time Kairi reached their table again. For the most part the two boys were trying to help each other out with their newly assigned homework from that morning.

"I'm telling you," Sora debated, "we have to do questions 1-30 in history by the end of the week."

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure he said 1-20."

Kairi rolled her eyes and addressed her presence with, "You're both wrong. The questions are due next week."

The two boys looked up and were somewhat shocked to see Kairi back so soon with her lunch in hand. Riku cleared away some of the stuff sprawled out on the table so Kairi had a place to put her lunch. She sat back down in her seat.

"Don't worry about it right now. We can have a study group later after school and I'll help you guys out then, okay?" The boys nodded their heads in agreement. They decided to meet up at Riku's locker after school since it was closest to the front doors.

With twenty minutes left, Kairi ate the salad that she had purchased, and then proceeded to share stories from her Bio class (some rather graphic things in fact). Sora gave an awkward smile to the stories while Riku was unafraid to share his uncomfortableness on his face to Kairi. She protested that it wasn't that bad, but clearly Sora and Riku thought otherwise. In no time at all, the boys had been saved by the bell from Kairi's Bio stories.

"So now what do you guys have." She asked the boys.

"Well, I have Math class," Riku answered.

Sora pulled his schedule out from his pocket and took a look at it. "Looks like I have gym." Great he thought to himself. After eating all of that food, he now had to jog around with it only being half digested into his system. Fun.

Riku chuckled, following with the sarcastic comment "Good luck."

"Well, I have a spare. Sora," Kairi looked in Sora's direction, "you know where you're going?"

He nodded in reply. "I have a pretty good idea."

"Aright, then I'll help Riku find his class."

"But Kairi," Riku beginning to protest, "I don't-"

"Oh nonsense. I have to make sure one of you gets to the right class." She gave one of those awkward chuckles and patted Riku on the back to get a move on. Turning around to face Sora who still sat at the table collecting his things, she said, "I might come by your class. Is that alright?"

Sora almost dropped the book he had in his hand. Kairi coming to see him in the gym? As much as he'd love to have her there, he didn't want her to see him in his first day back. Running, fine. Getting around to the sports part, that might be embarrassing. He hadn't played anything sport-like in two years, and I don't think fighting down heartless counted as a recreational sport. Unfortunately for him, he was a sucker when it came to letting Kairi have her way. Without showing his reluctance, he gave a smile. "Sure, you can come by. I don't mind." He so minded.

Kairi's face lit up. "Alright, see you in a bit, Sora." She turned back to Riku,"C'mon Riku!" She gave him a pat on the back and he began to walk.

"See ya later," he told Sora, giving him a little wave of the hand.

Once they were gone, Sora let out a little sigh. He just hoped that he didn't make a total fool of himself in front of Kairi. He imagined himself falling on his face right at the moment of truth in a game. Very much so did he wish that wouldn't happen.

Sora finished packing his bag and proceeded to exit the cafeteria, but out of nowhere, his head began to pound from the sharp pain that suddenly occurred. He dropped to his knees and held his hand over the spot on his head where the source of pain was coming from, just above his left brow. His vision began to blur from the pain, and peoples voices were fading away as he saw dark shapes surrounding him. Sweat was also beginning to form on his brow, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able withstand this. It was more than just some migraine. It was like someone was trying to take over him from the inside, like possession.

Right when he felt he was going to pass out, he felt a hand wrap around his arm and pull him up to his feet. Just before he passed out, he heard someone whisper "Sora" in a pleading like voice…. a familiar voice…. a boys voice.

"Roxas?" Sora whispered aloud, and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**A little short this week. I had a lot due (as in everyday I had to hand something in. INSANE!). Anyways, if anyone's reading this I hope that you enjoy Chapter 2!**

Chapter 2

Sora could at first hear voices near him as he slowly came to. It turned into a voice that sounded distant at first, and then it became clearer as he woke up. For a second, he couldn't remember why he had blacked out, then the little tinge of pain from earlier reminded him of what had happened. At that moment, Sora shot his eyes open, then quickly closed them again, being sensitive to the light. He groaned and opened his eyes slower this time as to not blind himself again. As he opened them, he could see a red figure looking straight at him. When his eyes finally focused Sora realized that it was, Kairi sitting next to him as he lay on a bed in the Nurses office. Her face went from worry to relief.

"Kairi, what…?" Sora began to ask, sitting up.

"We heard people saying that something was wrong with you, and when Riku and I came back into the cafeteria, you were on the floor holding your head, like you had a migraine or something. Riku helped to pull you up to your feet." Sora figured that was him, and was relieved.

"I thought someone had grabbed my arm," he grinned. "I guess that explains why I'm in the nurses office. Knowing Riku he probably carried me all the way here." Sora gave a little laugh. He'd have to thank Riku big time for doing that later.

Kairi sat silent, giving one of "those" smiles, like she was hiding something that was bothering her.

Sora looked at her with concern, "Hey, what's wrong?" He moved forward a bit from when he had been sitting to get closer.

She heaved a sign, then said, "Do you remember saying anything just before you passed out?"

He didn't even have to try and recall. He too heaved a sign, and looked directly in her eyes. "I said Roxas," Sora replied, without hesitation.

"Why though? Was what happened to you connected you to him?"

"It could have been," Sora looked down. "I heard a boys voice call my name. I was confused by this at first, and then realized that it was Roxas calling out to me." He looked down. "I have no idea why. I thought that, like Namine with you, he was back in my heart," placing his hand on his chest. "He became a part of me." Sora looked back up at Kairi. "Have you heard Namine inside you since?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, and I'm shocked that I haven't if you have. I mean, if there was something wrong with Roxas, you'd figure that she would tie into that considering that she to is, well, a Nobody." Sora saw the look of distaste on her face as the word "Nobody" rolled off her tongue. He knew she hated using that word towards someone, but that was what someone without a heart was called after all. Her look of disgust changed to puzzle and confusion as she leaned back in her chair, most likely trying to think things over. Sora also contemplated as to why he had heard Roxas as well. He couldn't figure out why that would happen… unless.

"Mickey's letter!" Sora exclaimed aloud. Kairi looked at him confused. "Remember when we got back? Mickey, Donald and Goofy left, and you brought a letter to Riku and I from King Mickey."

He could almost see the light bulb flash above Kairi's head. "That's right. He mentioned something about Roxas and Namine in there. He said 'so long as they stay dormant, the darkness had been prevailed.' The only thing is," she cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms, "how would they know if the darkness was spreading if they're inside us? We haven't left the island since we came back."

"Good question." Sora swung his legs over the bed. "After school we should try and figure it out with Riku."

"Yeah, he might know something about it."

As the discussion wrapped up, the Nurse came into the room to check up on the spiky haired boy. After she gave him a ibuprofen for his head and felt he was alright, she sent him on his way.

Kairi and Sora left the nurse office and entered the deserted hall. They stood there for a couple of seconds unsure what to do. Sora was the first the break the silence. "I have to head to my locker to get my stuff for the next period. Wanna come?"

"Sure, and I can help you find your class," she said smiling, starting the walk to Sora's locker. Having not paying attention to Kairi's departure, he took a couple of quick steps to catch up and was walking in stride beside her. "What's left on the days schedule?"

Sora replied "I think it's math class. Same as the one Riku's in right now. What about you?" He hoped that she'd be there in her class. It was bad enough that neither of his two best friends were in his gym class, he didn't want to face math alone either.  
"Same here!" a cheery Kairi replied. "I was hoping that we'd have the same class together." She giggled and gave a bright smile, her red hair giving a gentle toss as she turned to face him. Sora felt his cheeks slightly getting warm. Even from something small like that, it could brighten his mood and rekindle the feelings he tried to hide from her. He couldn't believe that after all that time that had passed, he still couldn't find the courage to confess his feelings for her. He was tempted to say something right then and there, while they were alone in the deserted hallway. "Should I," he thought to himself as he looked at her. He thought about the friendship that they had built over the years, and Riku, too. If he told Kairi how he truly felt and she rejected him, then that would not only make things awkward between him and Kairi, but Riku would be dragged into it too. Things would get awkward with something like THAT out in the open and their friendship could possibly cease…. Still though. He'd never know if he didn't try.

As soon as they reached his locker, Sora fiddled with the lock before him and quickly exchanged the books he had for the ones he'd need in the next class. He didn't want to back out of confessing, so he tried contemplating a plan as to how he should approach this without totally freaking her out.

Kairi could tell that Sora's mind was in another place. She placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Hey is something up?" She had no idea how much.

Sora spun around in her her direction. "Oh, yeah. Um… it's nothing for you to worry about," he grinned, "I'm alright."

"Well, if it's about hearing Roxas then don't worry," she beamed, "We'll come up with something later when we see Riku," giving Sora what she thought was reassurance. She couldn't be more far off from the topic. It actually made him freak out more to the point where he was ready to back down. "C'mon, Sora," he thought to himself, "You've wanted to say this for a long time. Just do it!" He sighed aloud as he closed his locker door. He felt his face fluster as he looked into Kairi's eyes. Why couldn't this be easier? Sora could feel his heart pounding at a mile a minute.

Sora cleared his throat, then took in a deep breath before taking the plunge. "Kairi," he began, "I have something that… that I need to say." Sora slightly looked down, trying not to make himself as nervous as he already felt. "I've wanted to say this for a long time, and well… here goes." Sora paused as Kairi waited in anticipation for what her friend was about to tell her. "Kairi, I-"

Just as the longing words were about to leave his mouth, the school bell rang and students from every opened door flooded out into the hallway. The two friends stood in silence as people walked by. All Sora could think of was "Crap."

"So, what were you going to tell me?" Kairi asked, cocking her head to the side and leaned forward with her arms tucked behind her, curiosity pasted on her face.  
Sora quickly turned on his heel and began to walk anywhere that would get him away from his locker, "Oh, it's nothing. I can tell you later."

Kairi could tell that he was lying, but she figured he'd tell her when he was ready… whatever it was (though she had a good feeling as to what it might be, though she'd never admit it out loud). Before he could get too far away, Kairi grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him back, making him stumble a bit. He turned around with confusion until she pointed in the opposite direction where there math class was. Giving one of those nervous laughs while scratching the back of his head, the two headed off to their final class of the day, side by side.

While Kairi was looking ahead, talking to Sora about something (most likely about their math class), Sora felt he couldn't concentrate on what she was saying. All he could think about was what had just transpired. Just his luck too, for the bell to ring at the worst possible moment. As he looked at her, she had a smile on her face, making one creep across his own, too. Though he missed an opportunity now, he could always try again another time. If he had waited this long, he could wait a little while longer still.

* * *

Riku scurried to his locker through the thick river of students flooding the hall. They all chattered away and stood in the middle of hall, others were trying to get out as soon as they could. Some students would stop in mid sentence to look at Riku as he passed by them. The attention from that morning had already died down by a lot, but it still loomed. Every once in a while as he headed to his locker, there'd be someone that would stand in his way to try and have a chance to talk to him. He politely maneuvered around them before they had the chance to completely block his way. He was determined to make it to his locker as fast as he could to meet up with Sora and Kairi. They had already pre-planned to have a study group, but he figured that after what happened with Sora earlier that day, they would most likely be ignoring this evenings homework (thankfully they could afford to procrastinate since their work wouldn't be due for a couple of days).

As he approached his locker, Riku could already see Sora and Kairi standing off to the side in wait, the few of the minimal decent people who tried not to be in everyone's way. Making the final strides to his locker, he waved to his friends to catch their attention. Sora caught it at the corner of his eye and waved back as Riku approached. The silver haired boy clapped Sora on the back. "So, how's the patient doing now?"

Sora chuckled, "Much better now. And hey," he gave a Riku a soft smile, "thanks a lot for carrying me to the nurses office."

"Oh, that," Riku responded, kind of nonchalant, "No big deal. That's what friends are for," he said while giving Sora a smile back. Then a thought occurred to him, "Wait, you were completely passed out, how did you know?"

"Riku, we've been friends for how long?" Sora gave a chuckle, then changing the subject with a serious tone. "Kairi and I might have fingered out what might have caused me to faint earlier."

"The darkness might be stirring again," said Kairi, following up.

For a couple of seconds, Riku just stared at his two friends with no response, then broke the silence with, "I thought so." He went past his friends to put his stuff in his locker, then began to lead the way out the door, Sora and Kairi following behind him. Sora could tell that Riku was really troubled by this, and he could understand even more so why. Even though they knew that the darkness would rise again, they didn't imagine that it'd only take a few more days for something to brew up once more. They all figured that for a while yet, there'd be peace and no worries. Sora realized more so how big the role of the Keyblade bearer was. The darkness would never truly settle, so long as there was a person to wield the Keybalde. It was a never ending war passed down from one person to the next. He couldn't give up though. Donald and Goofy weren't there by his side like before, but he did have Kairi and Riku, and he knew that at least he wouldn't have to face whatever was coming alone. The more Sora thought about this, the more he would picture his Keyblade in hand with Riku and Kairi by his side like how Donald and Goofy had been. It gave him hope, and-

"SORA!" Kairi suddenly shrieked, taking Sora out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"What are you doing, bringing "that" out?" Riku asked in a more calmer voice than their red headed friend, looking down towards Sora's right hand.  
He almost didn't have to look to where his friends stared, but just be sure he didn't do what he just think he just did, he slowly looked down and saw the silver and gold Kingdom Key shimmering in his hand. His eyes went big at the sight of it, then he quickly shot his eyes up to see the shock on both of his friends faces. That wasn't even half the trouble. They were still in the school by the doorways to head out, and most of the student body that was left standing by the door was staring at the spiky haired boy in confusion, some muttering thing under their breaths to themselves.

Without totally freaking out, Sora turned around to face everyone with a very uneasy smile on his face, thinking about what he should say to cover up this little mess. "Umm.. yeah, this?" He pointed to the Keyblade to emphasize what he was talking about (like he needed to. It was a giant key in his hands for crying out loud), "It's, uh… something I'm working on for Halloween this year. Cosplay." He gave a nervous chuckle in hope that his classmates would buy it, little beads of sweat forming on his brow. Some "Ohh, Okay"'s and "Whatever"'s could be heard from different people departing from the scene. He felt some relief from this.

"Why'd you do that, Sora?" Kairi asked, a little more concerned now in a much nicer way than before. She looked like she was going to tear his head off earlier when she had shrieked.

Sora shook his head, "I don't even know why? I was thinking about the Keyblade and 'poof', it's out in my hand." He made the Keyblade disappear as he finished.

"Well, try not to let that happen again if you can avoid it," Riku said in a serious voice. "If the darkness really is spreading again," he looked down to Sora's hand where the Keyblade had just been, "then the last thing we need is for the Keyblade to be flashed about in the open. As it is, the darkness is attracted to it."

Sora clenched his hand into a fist, the hand that had the absence of the Keyblade. A river of guilt washing over him. How could he not have been paying enough attention to what he was doing to let something that stupid happen? He felt a hand being gently placed on his shoulder. Looking in the direction to where it was placed, he saw Kairi was attached to the reassuring hand. "Don't feel bad about it. I think that it was more of a shock to us that something like that happened out of the blue. You didn't do it on purpose, so don't worry, okay?" Her face was soft and pure with an innocent smile on her face, making Sora brighten a bit.

"Thanks Kairi," he said while placing a hand on hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. Their eyes meeting for a second. They then realized what was happening, the both of them letting go of the other in a flash. They looked in opposite directions, crimson cheeks developing.

"Alright, let's not stall any longer," Riku said while leading the way out the door, trying hard not to laugh at the bit of embarrassment that Sora and Kairi shared on their faces.  
Sora shouted out, "Yeah, yeah," and followed after. Kairi followed beside Riku the whole walk there to Kairi's, avoiding Sora's gaze. A little smile would spread across hers when she'd catch Sora looking at her and doing the same to avoid her gaze in turn.


	3. Chapter 3

**I think this one might be a bit longer than the last chapter. I hope so. BTW, I don't know why when it uploads it doesn't give you spaces in between like I had for chapter 1. I'm still new to this so if someone could message me how that'd be great. I keep trying to just hit the enter key between lines and that hasn't seemed to work. Anyways, here's Chapter 3!**

Chapter 3

After what had been an hour and a half, the trio of friends had got no where closer to solving both their homework problem, nor the problem involving the darkness. Frustrated, they decided to take a break and turn on the television in the living room. Sora plopped himself down on the armchair while Riku took to the floor, leaving Kairi with the love seat couch.

"Man, why does this have to be so hard?" A whiny Sora exclaimed, loosening his tie.

Riku took his right off and put it back in the pocket, where it had been placed earlier that morning. "If only there was more of a clue that we could get as to what's happening, then it wouldn't be so bad."

"Kairi, can I see the note again?" Sora asked, extending his hand in the direction where his friend sat.

"C'mon, you guys," she replied, mainly to Sora, since he asked, "We're supposed to be on a break. Let's rest for a few minutes, then go back to it."

A sign of defeat escaped Sora, followed by a quiet, "Alright," as he dropped the subject. He was only able to last a couple of minutes before he had to go use the bathroom.  
Once Sora was out of earshot, Kairi sat down beside Riku on the floor.

"So," he asked, "did he do it?"

Kairi answered with a sign, "No. I think he was about to when we were alone in the hall, but then the school bell rang and he chickened out."

Since the three of them had returned to the island, both Sora and Kairi had confided in Riku about their feelings for the other. Riku and Kairi decided that they'd try and get Sora to confess his feelings first, and this was another one of those moments in which it had failed.

"Well, why didn't you want to go and show him where the gym was earlier?" Riku asked.

"I was going to come up with a plan with you, but then Sora fainted. I stayed with him in the nurses office, but still. Nothing happened today… again." Her head sunk in despair.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you," he said, trying to make her feel better. "I'm pretty sure that it'll happen when it happens. You won't have to wait much longer anyway."

A small smile of hope appeared on Kairi. "Thanks Riku," her face went to worry, "I hope that what happened today with him though doesn't turn into a regular thing," her voice quieting down to nearly a whisper, "he looked like he was in so much pain."

Riku in turn appeared worried. When they had entered the cafeteria, there had been a giant crowd around Sora. There were people trying to help him up, but every time they reached out to him, he'd pull away like he didn't want to be touched. His face plastered with pain as he tried to contain screams. Riku didn't hesitate to just reach out and grab him unlike the others trying to be tender. Thankfully his rough gesture had snapped Sora out of it, releasing his friend from the pain that had taken place before them. Even though he knew that it would probably happen again, he hoped that he'd never have to see his friend in that much torment... ever.

The gods must have been conspiring against him, for as soon as that thought crossed his mind, they heard a yell from the bathroom, calling out to them. Kairi and Riku both looked at each other with horror in their eyes, getting up and racing to the bathroom.

* * *

Once Sora had finished his business in the bathroom, he felt for some reason to take a closer look at himself in the mirror before leaving. He saw that same face he always saw looking back at him. Blued eyed boy with spiky brown hair. He had grown up from the boy he had known two years ago, but it was still a familiar face that greeted him as a reflection. He wondered if he should give his hair a bit of a trim, then laughed a bit to himself. If anyone would need a haircut of any sort, it'd be Riku. His hair had got so long you could braid it. Knowing his mom, she had probably already tried to cut it in the middle of the night or something and got caught.

Just as Sora was about to leave the bathroom though, he noticed something different in the reflection. He leaned closer towards the mirror, and took a look at a few strands of hair that almost looked… blonde. Curios, he took the hair with his fingers and held them before his eyes. When he looked at them though, they were brown. Scratching his head, he took a look back at the mirror to see if he was seeing things. What he saw in the mirror completely horrified him. Instead of seeing a reflection of his own face he saw a boy with blonde hair flipped up with blue eyes staring right at him, a black hood covering most of himsself as he stood in darkness.

Sora couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't find his voice to call out to his friends. The words "Kairi" and "Riku" kept being said, but no sound was produced with the words. He kept trying until a sound started to produce from his mouth, eventually mustering up the ability to yell for them to get into the bathroom.

* * *

Riku burst into the bathroom first, Kairi falling in behind him. The two friends saw Sora staring into the bathroom mirror with a look of sheer horror on his face, sweat forming at his brow.

"You guys… come look at this," Sora said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

Riku walked towards Sora and stopped beside his friends side, Kairi going around the other side to also catch a glimpse of what had made her friend petrified from freight. As soon as their eyes made contact with the mirror, they too shared that same look of horror on their face. A gasp escaped Kairi's lips as she put her hands to her mouth, not only seeing a boy that wasn't Sora in the mirror, but of someone else that she knew of.

"What the…" Riku whispered in shock.

In the mirror, there were now two blond people who started back at the three friends. One was the boy, and the other was a girl in a while dress and pale skin.

Being unable to say it before, Sora was able to find his voice again and say it now. "Roxas," he began, "… what are you doing in the mirror?" He looked in the girls direction, "You, too Namine. How can you two be in the mirror's reflection when…?" Sora looked down at his chest where his heart was, thinking of where he thought they should be and where he, Kairi, and Riku were now seeing them.

Namine began to speak first, her quiet sweet voice echoing in the darkness of the mirror. "We're not too sure ourselves. We do know, however, that the darkness is stirring again."

Sora gave a nod, "That's what we though." He turned to Roxas, "So why did you try to contact me the way you did?" He rubbed his head, giving him a grin to show he wasn't too mad at Roxas, "That really hurt."

Even with being humorous to show he wasn't upset with him, Roxas still gave a smile of guilt. "I wasn't trying to hurt you," he looked down a bit, "There's still a hint of darkness in me… I thought that I was free from it, but I guess not. I'm trying to suppress it, but that time I wasn't able to," Roxas looked back up looking directly at Sora with guilt filled eyes, his voice cracked a little. "I'm so sorry, Sora."

Not really expecting that kind of a response, Sora was taken off guard for a second. He smiled softly at Roxas. "Don't worry, it's not your fault." Roxas gave a sheepish smile back, forgiving himself a bit. Sora could see slight bags under the blond haired boys eyes. Sora felt sorry for him since there was nothing he could to do to help him (at least, not that he knew of).

"So, what should we do now?" Riku asked aloud, looking in the direction of Namine. "We're back on the island with no means of transportation."

"Riku brings up a good point, "replied Kairi. The friends contemplated what could be done. Riku shot out an idea first.

"I could always summon portals like before. That'd be a fast way to-"

"No way!" Both Sora and Kairi shouted at once. Sora crossed his arms, "There's no way I'm letting you use the darkness just so we can travel to different worlds."

Riku put his hands up in defense, "Sorry. Not the best idea, but I just thought I'd put it out there."

"Well, there must be a better solution," said Kairi.

Roxas snapped his fingers as an idea hit him, everyone looked in his direction. "Gummy Ships."

For a second every ones faces lit up, but then it dimmed as they remembered that it was Donald and Goofy who had one.

Sora heaved a sigh, "I guess the only way of transportation is… no way at all." Riku folded his arms, "Hopefully the king will realize that something's up and will come to Destiny Islands to fetch us."

Namine's face grew grim, "I hope so, for everyone's sake."

"Namine," Kairi began to ask, "Do either of you two know who's stirring up trouble?"

Namine shook her head. "To be quite honest, we have no clue who the source of the trouble is coming from, and that's what bothers me the most," Namine played with her fingers looking down, "I wish that Diz was here." In reassurance, Roxas gently took one of her hands and wrapped his fingers in hers. She looked up to receive a gentle smile from the blonde hair boy. She too gave him a soft smile.

Sora at that time looked towards Kairi, she too meeting his gaze. A look of worry was spread on both their faces. Sora was worried for his two friends, especially for kairi. Aside from Castle Oblivion, she never really experienced what had happened like Riku and himself had. If something were to happen to her… he shook the thought from his head. That's the last thing Sora wanted to picture.

"No matter who it is," Sora said as he continued to look into Kairi's eyes, "we can stop it…" He then looked at Riku, "… together."

* * *

The alarm on his alarm clock began to buzz, and almost as soon as it went off Sora hit the snooze button to silence it. He had woken up on his own an hour early from going to bed earlier than expected the night before. After his mom got a call from the school from what had happened earlier that day, she insisted it was from lack of sleep, and Sora had to head to bed early. Even with being up earlier, he hadn't got out of his bed, and was sluggish doing so now.

He stood before a tall mirror in his room, still seeing his own reflection with bed head hair and his familiar T-shirt and shorts worn for pajamas. After yesterday at Kairi's, Sora had tried to see if it would be a constant thing to see Roxas instead of his own reflection in a mirror. It seemed that this only happened when Roxas needed to speak with Sora face to face. That came to him as some relief. It'd be pretty hard to explain why there was some other persons reflection in the mirror instead of his own. Even still, it was good that there was a way to not only talk to Roxas and Namine, but to see them as well. Sora wondered if they could be summoned out like the Keyblade? He made a mental note to try that later.

On his way to the bathroom, Sora grabbed his school uniform off the back of his door where it hung on a hook. It smelled like "Spring" after it's wash the previous night, and it was still pretty strong considering it had been hung up to air some of the smell out. He wondered if a particular person in mind would notice this, the thought of Kairi complimenting him on how she liked the smell of his uniform, making a small smile appear. Then frustration flowed over him.

Why couldn't he just say how he felt? It didn't seem that hard. "Kairi, I like you" seemed simple enough to say, but when it came time to do it, he'd always choke up. He wished that he could go back to those days when Riku and him would go and race on the beach while Kairi refereed it on the side lines, cheering them both on. A simple life… before the heartless… before his further realization of his feelings for Kairi. Taking a towel to wipe his faced that he just recently washed, he rubbed his face till it dryed. Sora then looked up at the mirror, looking into his own eyes, standing up straight as courage filled him. "I will tell her today," he said aloud to himself, "… no matter what."

* * *

This time Sora and Riku met Kairi at the front doors, Selphie standing with her and chatting away.

"So, how're you feeling today?" Selphie asked Sora as the two boys walked towards them. "Riku told me in math class what happened to you. How freaky is that to have a migraine get so bad you pass out?"

Sora gave a nervous like chuckle, "Yeah, it was pretty bad," then he gave a big grin, "but I'm much better now, Selphie. Thanks."

She giggled. "No problem."

Sora could see that people were still somewhat interested in Riku and himself. It was kind of annoying with people staring at them all the time. The number of eyes on Sora though had increased since yesterday when he summoned his Keyblade in front of everyone by accident. No doubt that some of what was being whispered as they walked by was related to that. Riku gave Sora a pat on the back, getting Sora's attention back to reality as they got closer to their classroom. He really had to start paying attention more. He was so distracted lately considering he had nothing to distract him.

"Well, this is our stop, "Riku waved to Selphie and Kairi as they continued their decent down the hall. "See you guys later." Sora too gave a wave. The girls waved back at them and continued their way to their classes.

Riku turned to Sora. "What's up with you today? You look like a zombie walking down the hall," he said while giving a little chuckle.

Sora shook his head, "It's nothing much. I was just thinking about how everyone's continually starting at us, and I think I dumped more attention on myself after what happened yesterday with me fainting and the whole Keyblade thing after school." Sora slumped over with the reminder of yesterdays events.

He received a pat on the back of reassurance from Riku. "Don't worry about it. What's happened has happened." He began to stride into their English class, Sora following behind. If only he could just brush it off like Riku.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. No sense in worrying about what I can't change," Sora said with some optimism. He sat down at his desk, beginning to take out the things he'd need from his bag for class.

As it drew nearer to the start of class, students began to take their seats. Riku was looking out the window with his chin resting on the palm of his hand, while Sora attempted to start reading the first chapter of "The Crucible". He couldn't fathom how Riku could have got three chapters ahead without getting confused by the plot and the read in general. Everyone became silent though once the teacher entered the room. She had blonde hair with a face similar to Larxene, which sort of freaked both the boys out. She definitely didn't resemble her personality wise, thankfully. She was kind and was always cheery, unlike Larxene who seemed bitter and irritated aside from the whole evil thing.

"Alright class," she began, "We'll do roll call and start on the first chapter of 'The Crucible', so please have them out and ready." She started calling out names that were followed by "here" or "present". Once that was finished, she picked one person at a time to read off sections of the first chapter. Since Riku had read ahead before everyone else, he was free to just listen or start on the questions. He decided this would be a good time to take a "bathroom break" for a while. Sora stayed in his seat as he watched his friend leave the room, feeling a bit envious.

For the most part Sora wasn't paying too much attention to the lesson at hand (he'd get help from Riku later since he knew what he was doing). He was trying to figure out who could be stirring up trouble. Aside from Maleficent the Witch and Pete, he couldn't figure out who else could be doing this. If it really was Maleficent and Pete, Mickey and the others could probably handle them. Everyone else they had faced had been conquered… but still. If Maleficent was able to come back after Sora defeated her as a Dragon, then it could be possible for someone else to do the same. Sora pushed that thought aside, figuring he was just worrying too much. It's not like he could do anything for now, since he was stuck on Destiny Islands.

"Sora, could you read the next part, please?" The teacher asked Sora purposfully, seeing his lack of attention.

"Oh right," he replied while standing up. He held his book up before him and began to read where the last student had left off, having really no clue what he was reading. Something about witches and adultery, but aside from that nothing else. All he could think about was the end of class and getting to History to meet up with Kairi again. He had a plan set, and was bound and determined to accomplish it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Back from my "Spring Break" (or so they say in Post Secondary). Finally have Chapter 4 finished. Hope you enjoy ^^  
**

Chapter 4

Roxas stood on a window stained floor that glowed, a picture that had both himself and the true Keyblade bearer that he now was part of. It still slightly disturbed him, the constant reminder of him not being as real as he thought. He wasn't the true "other" like Sora. To pass the time, he closed his eyes, tuning into what Sora was up to.

"English, huh?" the blond boy said to himself as he opened his blue eyes again. He chuckled, reminded of when he and his friends of the alternate Twilight Town saw each other for the last time… those last days of summer. He knew it wasn't real, but the memories that he had were, and that was enough for him. Then Axel and Xion flashed through his mind, that too bringing back painful but happy memories of what once was. "If only things could go back to the way they were."

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden twist of pain in his chest. He kelt down to one knee in order not to fall. Through strained voice, he said aloud, "This must have been what Sora felt like." Unable to move, Roxas could feel the darkness within him swarm. He grit his teeth to prevent himself from screaming aloud like he had the last time. He couldn't involve Sora again. It was like the darkness was trying to possess him. Slowly it was becoming harder for him to control it. If he wasn't able to control this, would it make Sora suffer, too? As if the darkness could read his thoughts, the pain began to increase so much that Roxas felt like his chest was on fire. He fell over, gripping his chest as he breathed heavily from the pain. The coolness of the floor welcoming against his burning skin, Roxas feeling sweat forming on his brow.

"I'm not giving up," he said in a strained voice, "not yet." Slowly the lit up floor was becoming fuzzy as he felt himself go. He thought to himself, "No… I can't… not… yet," but at the same time wondered how much longer he'd be able to keep this up.

Roxas thought aloud to himself, "Maybe us becoming one again… wasn't such a good idea."

Everything turned pitch black as he passed out.

* * *

The headache from before had started forming again, but not even close to being as bad as the last time. It was like an irritating, normal headache. Sora looked in his bag for the little bottle of ibuprofen that his mom had given him before heading out to school, thankful for her worries. He put two into his hand and dry swallowed them. They went down slow, but what else could he do with nothing to swallow it with. By this point, Riku had already come back and was sitting on the other end of Sora's desk. He was helping him with the questions on "The Crucible" they had just received.

Riku looked up from the book where he was trying to find the sentence that held the answer to question two. His eyes narrowed in concern. "Does it hurt?" the Silver haired boy asked his friend.

Sora looked at Riku and shook his head. "Not really," he gave a smile, "I don't like to dry swallow, but what can you do without water around?"

What was once a look of concern turned to one of those "are you kidding me" looks. "No, I meant your headaches. Is it bothering you like before?"

Finally realizing, Sora replied waving his hands, "Oh that! No, no, it's just minor, like a normal headache." He put one of his hands into a courageous fist. "Don't worry, I'll let you know if it's really bothering me. Kairi, too."

Riku gave a chuckle, "So long as you're alright. Don't go and wait until it's like it was yesterday when it hit you. I'm not carrying you all the way to the nurses office again."

"Hey," Sora chuckled, "It's not like I did it on purpose. The two friends smiled at each other for a second, then got back to work after their teacher caught them talking about things unrelated to the class.

"If you two want to talk about things outside the classroom, kindly do so there on your own time. Not mine." So much for the nice part.

The time in class flew by quick and before Sora knew it, it was time to pack up and head off to History class. As Sora and RIku made their way through the crowded hall, they met up with Kairi further down nearer to where their next class was. She was the first to bring up the subject that was on the back of everyone's mind.

"Roxas and Naime are inside our hearts, right?" Both Sora and Riku nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, wouldn't there be a way to summon them out, like Sora's Keyblade? Except it'd be permanent instead of temporarily."

"That could be a possibility," Riku began to answer, "but the whole reason Namine and Roxas became part of you guys again was so that everything would be back to normal." Both Sora and Kairi looked at Riku, confused. He forgot that Sora didn't remember Castle Oblivion, and Kairi was back home at the time and couldn't figure out who she had forgotten in her life. One day the memories just returned to her like everybody else. "Well, you both were missing parts of your memories. Namine restored everyone's memories in that time Sora slept in the pod, but in order for both of your memories to be completely restored, both Namine and Roxas had to return to your hearts. First it was Roxas, then later on Namine did the same."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Sora replied, scratching his head.

Kairi folded her arms, "Well, I personally don't find it very fair for either of them."

Riku looked at his red headed friend, "How's it unfair?"

"Well… because," her voice softened, "they can't be free like we are. They're trapped like mice within our hearts." She curled a hand into a ball and held it over her chest. "I can't even begin to imagine how that must feel." Tears began to form in her eyes.

Without a second thought, Sora gently pulled her to the side of the hall as to not be in the way of students passing by. "Wah?" was all Kairi could manage to say before she had been whirled around to be embraced in Sora's arms as he wrapped them around her. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but he didn't want to see her cry. There wasn't much he could do to help her when she go like this, and that bothered him more than anything. Her faced turned crimson red with it half buried into Sora's chest, Riku staring at the two shocked as well.

"Kairi," Sora began to say, his voice low and soft, "It's not your fault. Roxas unfortunately didn't have the choice… but Namine, she knew what she had to do and made the choice." He pulled away a bit and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking into her tear stained eyes, "So don't feel bad, okay?" Sora gave a small grin in hope to enlighten her and cheer her up. It worked somewhat. Kairi wiped away some of the tears that had flowed down her cheeks, nodding her head in agreement. "Alright then," Sora held a hand in front of her, "let's head out to class."

Kairi looked at Sora's welcoming hand and placed her hand in his, her cheeks going to a pinkish colour now after the shock wore off. As they began their continuation down the hall (Riku following behind trying to comprehend what had just transpired), she turned her head towards Sora giving a soft smile. "Thank you, Sora."

Sora in return gave her the same smile back, "Your welcome." While they walked down the hall, it felt like he was walking on hair, Kairi's at his side. "For sure," he thought to himself, "this will definitely be the day I tell her... I love her."

* * *

As Namine stood on the glowing stain glass floor, a picture of both herself and Kairi, she could feel the darkness around her get cold like she was being plunged into a frozen wasteland. Kairi nor Namine herself was being sucked into the darkness though. It was as if she had developed a sixth sense and could tell when the Darkness was brewing. Both herself and Roxas had developed this. Where was the source coming from though? She was still unable to pin point it, and that bothered her. As she went through her own memories of her restoring Sora's, she could remember some of the places where he had been and connected to those worlds through her thoughts. Radiant Garden was having troubles again with the Heartless, and Twilight Town was having their troubles of Nobodys.

"Who could be doing this?" she thought aloud for the umpteenth time. There wasn't anyone that she could think of. She hoped that the trouble wouldn't spread to Destiny Islands and instead Sora, Riku, and Kairi could find a way to get to other worlds and stop the spread of darkness.

Suddenly from out of nowhere, she found herself shedding tears. Namine rubbed them away with the palm of her hand. She realized that it wasn't because of anything she felt, but because of Kairi who at the moment felt upset and sorry about how herself and Roxas weren't able to walk freely, trapped in their hearts instead. Namine too began to feel bad and felt that the tears that she was shedding felt appropriate (though she wasn't sad enough to cry, Kairi was still upset). She didn't want Kairi to feel bad about the decision she had made.

In Roxas's case, she still felt bad for in ways for tricking him back into Sora's heart. While he lived in the alternate Twilight Town, he had no idea about how he had been in Organization XIII, and that in fact he was a Nobody. He never did know that he was Sora's Nobody until she herself told him. She should be the one to feel sorry and shed tears, not Kairi. The tears soon stopped their flow and it was replaced with enlightenment. Someone must have made her feel better. "Good," Namine said aloud, "I'm glad she's not upset anymore." A small smile spread across her face. She closed her eyes and went back to her patrol on the darkness.

A few minutes passed with no change, so as Namine began to hum to herself, she walked towards the edge of the floor to suddenly have a set of glowing stairs of light appeared before her. They led up to a door above that held the memories of Kairi. Every once in a while, Namine would look through them to know more about Kairi and who she was as a person. It was easier to look at what she was doing at that moment in there, too. It was like a giant computer screen with files upon files of memories. The one file always open was the "Present" file, and it always screened was was happening across the monitor. Much simpler than the first way she discovered, which would be looking through her own mind.

When she got up there, she took a peek and saw that Kairi and Sora were holding hands as they walked down the hall (most likely to their next class). She gave a giggle, happy to see them finally opening up to each other. "So you're the one to make Kairi feel better, Sora. I hope that you both can finally fully open up to each other." The image of Roxas flashed through her mind, she blushed a bit. She shook her head and gave a saddened smile to herself. "Just because we're the Nobody's of Kairi and Sora… it doesn't mean… he feels that way, too. We're simply close friends"

Namine continued to look up at the screen as she watched Sora and Kairi, feeling a little envious of the two. "You're so lucky, " Naime said in a quiet and soft voice.

* * *

Riku balanced a pencil on his nose, trying to ignore the two giggling girls sitting next to him without success. The class hadn't yet started, so the room was filled with chatter. Some of it was about Sora and Kairi's arrival into class hand in hand. Sora claimed it wasn't what it looked like, but it was kind of hard to cover up holding your best friends hand who happens to be a girl when EVERYONE knows you have feelings for her (and they secretly know that she has feelings for him back).

"So Sora, did you ask Kairi out on a date, or are you going to go hold her hand a few more times before you do?" asked a teasing Tidus, their younger friend from grade nine.

"NOTHING'S HAPPENING!" shouted a protesting and in denial Sora, slamming his hands on the top of his desk. "Aren't you supposed to be in class somewhere?"

"Ha, nope," Tidus crossed his arms with a smirk on his face, "I have a spare."

Riku looked over at the two bickering friends, "Well, you can't stay here. We're about to start class soon."

"Hey, speaking of classes," Tidus begins to ask, pointing a finger at Riku, but is interrupted by a mumble of, "It's not polite to point at people," from Riku. Tidus ignores this and continues on, "why are you in the same grade as Sora? I thought that you were a year older, so shouldn't you be with Wakka?

"Since I need pre requisites for the classes in grade eleven, I have to take the same ones for grade ten first. next semester."

"Oh," Tidus nodded his head, "that makes sense."

The conversation ends as the school bell rings to start the beginning of class, the teacher walks in at that same moment. Tidus quickly slips out of the class room while the students take their proper seats.

"Hello class. Let's take attendance and then we'll get right to the lesson." The teacher takes roll call one by one and a "here" or "present" is followed by the name called out. "So last class we looked at chapter seven in our history text books. Raise your hand if anything that we read really popped out and stuck in your head." Most of the students rose their hands up and then the teacher waved them to put their hands down. "Good, good. Now, why would I ask this? It's because I'm going to assign to you a new assignment, and it will be based off of anything in Destiny Islands history that really pops and you feel like you'd want to write about it. It can be recent, it can be far back into the past, whatever you guys would like to write. Minimum pages is two, max is five. Write it out and once you have it done type and prong it out, and don't go and print out pages with text bigger than twelve or thirteen point."

Groans can be heard from the students as they get to work on their new assignment. Kairi turned around on her seat to face her two friends. "I can only guess what the two of you will write about."

A student sitting nearby overhears the start of the conversation. "Yeah, they'll probably write about what happened that night before they disappeared," he says semi sarcastically.

Riku picked up his pencil and began to write. "I don't know about Sora, but I was thinking of writing something different."

Sora nodded his head in agreement, "I was thinking of writing something else, too."

Both the classmate and Kairi were surprised to hear that. Kairi began to say, "I thought that at least one of you would write about it," she smiled, "but I suppose I can see why you wouldn't want to. Everyone's expecting that."

"I know I was," says the classmate, returning to his work before him.

"Well, these papers aren't going to write themselves," says Kairi as she turns back around to face her own desk.

"True," Sora answered back. He picked up his own pencil and began to write.

A few minutes passed, and the classroom began so silent that all you could hear was the scratching of pens and pencils against paper. The concentration coming for the students was so intense in fact that when the PA system sudden'y went off, everyone jumped out of their seats while a few of them gasped out of freight. The principle began to speak through the PA. "Sorry for the interruption. Could Sora and Kairi of grade ten please make their way to the office. You have a phone call waiting for you, thank you."

The two friends looked at each other and then sat up from their desk and headed to the office. Once they were out in the deserted hallway, they began to make small talk.

"I wonder who would be phoning at this time in the day," Sora asked, scratching his head, "and for the both of us on top of that."

Kairi too was curious. "I can't think of anyone besides our parents, but even then I couldn't see why we would both have to go."

"Oh well. I can't see it being anything too bad."

"Yeah, it's probably nothing to worry about."

As the two walked into the office, the secretary was already pointing at the phone beside her. She had a smile on her face as Sora picked up the receiver. Since the cord was long enough, Sora stepped back a few steps so that if someone else needed to talk to the secretary they wouldn't be in the way. He held it up between himself and Kairi so that they both could hear the person on the phone. "Hello, this is Sora and Kairi. May I ask who's calling?" Sora asked the person on the phone in a polite manner.

Instead of a friendly reply back, the two received a dark chuckle that sent a chill up their spines. The ominous voice replied. "Come now, Sora. Has it really been that long for you? Do you not remember who I am." He chuckled again, and then spoke once more. "If light and darkness are eternal, then surely we "Nothings" must be the same… eternal. I suppose I was right, wasn't I Sora."

With hearing this, Sora memories began to flash pictures of a silver haired man in a black hooded cloak. The battle that had taken place, the beam of light that shot out of the Keyblade with the strength of himself and Riku. What they thought was their final attack to take out this silver haired man.

Sora looked towards the front desk to see if the secretary was paying attention, but she was wrapped up in some work on her computer. He gave a big swallow and tried to calm himself before speaking. He gave himself a couple of seconds before he final said aloud in a hard voice, "Xemnas."


	5. Chapter 5

**I apologize. I wrote chapter 4 and then I had a month of school work to do. After it died down I went on a school trip to Chicago. I tried to write, but the only time I had "me" time by myself to concentrate was on the bus, but it was too bumpy to write and I couldn't make out what I was writing after a while. When I came back to classes it got really busy again so I ended being swamped for another month, but now I'm totally out of school. Again, I apologize for the wait. It wasn't my intentions to do so. I had to start paying a little more attention to my History class since I was getting less sleep. Hopefully this chapter isn't too short. Anyways, here's chapter 5.**

Chapter 5

"Bravo, Sora. Bravo," said a sarcastic Xemnas, "I'm glad you haven't forgotten. After all, it's only been a little over a week since our last encounter."

Kairi's eyes widened as she now remembered who Xemnas was, she gave a little gasp. Sora put a finger to his lips to indicate not to make a scene, she nodded in agreement. He turned his attention back to the receiver, "What is it that you want?"

"Want? Why, what kind of an question is that?" Xemnas's voice went dark, almost ominous, "You ruined my Kingdom Hearts, and now I'm going to destroy what's most important to you as you did to me." The end of the line was silent for a second, and then he spoke again in a voice of such exuberance and craze that his tone and sentence made Kairi and Sora petrified on the spot and unable to breathe. "Your island... it's very nice, beautiful in fact. I can't for the life of me figure out why you children would have wanted to escape this place... I suppose I can see why. In ways, a tiny island like this would make you feel, trapped. It would want you to seek other worlds. It's nice and quaint though, wouldn't you agree, Sora?"

Sora's heart raced as fear swept through him, the memories of what happened on the island two years ago. He could feel a sense of fury burning in the pit of is soul. It must be Roxas. He tried to keep his voice calm and low as best he could. "Whatever it is you're going to do, it's not going to work, Xemnas."

Xemnas gave a dark chuckle, "Perhaps... or maybe you're wrong and success will be mine," he gave a pause and continued, "You have twenty minutes to prepare yourself," and with that Sora heard a click, followed by silence. Both he and Kairi stood there for a few seconds time before Sora said aloud, "Alright, we'll see you soon," a fake smile on his face, then gave the phone back to the front desk.

"Is everything alright?" the secretary asked with concern, looking at the two who themselves looked the same.

Sora snapped out of it and smiled again, "No problem," he took hold of Kairi's hand, "Kairi and I have to go, but thanks again." He quickly took off with Kairi behind him. The secretary looked out at them as they headed out the office. A smile sprawled across her face, muttering, "About time," under her breath as she leaned back in her chair.

Once Sora and Kairi had headed far enough down the hall, Sora quickly whipped around and put his hand atop Kairi's shoulders. "Kairi, I need you to go get Riku from class and meet me at the front doors of the school fifteen minutes from now." Even though he was trying to keep calm his heart raced inside, the speed increased with the seconds that passed, He didn't want what happened before to repeat itself, and not even a week after it all ended, it was going to happen once more... and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "I guess this is what I get for wanting some things to stay the way they were," Sora said silently to himself aloud, giving a weary smile.

"... Sora," Kairi said softly, bringing back Sora's attention. She looked into his blue eyes with her own, "It's going to be alright." She placed a hand gently on top of Sora's, giving it a soft squeeze of reassurance.

Sora's eyes widened a bit, his cheeks feeling warm again, including the tips of his ears as he looked into her radiant blue eyes. Those eyes always seemed to be like a shimmering light to help him get through anything. Even now as he feared for the inevitable, Sora felt like things would turn out in the end, so long as she was there. "Kairi-" he began to say, but was stopped by one of Kairi's fingers that had been pressed against his lips.

Kairi gave Sora a little smile, "Go."

As his face turned to one with determination, he gave a nod and turned on his heel to take off. "Fifteen minutes!" Sora called out as he reached the end of the hall, then disappeared from site as he left through the door.

Kairi stood in the hall for a couple of seconds, looking out at the end where the door swung shut. Xemnas's face appeared in her mind, sending a chill down her spine. She turned around and headed back to the classroom, tucking some of her read hair behind her ear that had got in her eyes. "Just be careful, Sora," Kairi said under her breath softly, then broke out into a run herself.

* * *

Namine collapsed to her knees at the sound of his name. "But how... how is that possible?" She sat there for a few seconds, then let out a frustrated sigh. Once a Nobody was diseased, there was no way of coming back. At least, that's what she thought. Namine looked up at the screen to see an image of Xemnas sprawled across. "So how did you?" she asked the image aloud, he eye's narrowed, "How?" She sat there pondering these thoughts with much difficulty, trying to comprehend this unexpected event.

* * *

Just at the sound of his name, Roxas could feel himself pulse with rage. His hands clenched into fists, he spoke aloud through clenched teeth, "So, everyone else in the Organization has to perish, but you yourself found a way to come back... just for yourself... hey, Xemnas?" He turned on his heel, "Well, if you're back, then I should get ready for what's to come." As Roxas began to walk to the center of the stain glass floor, he unzipped his Organization cloak to reveal his Twilight Town clothing. The black jacket fell to the floor as it slid off his arms, his gloves following suit as he pulled them off, them too dropping to the floor. "I couldn't do anything to help Sora out before, but this time," he looked up into the nothingness, "I will do something."

* * *

Even though it felt like his chest was on fire, Sora continued to run down his street until he spotted his house a block away. With this, Sora increased his speed with the energy he had left.

As he approached the front door, Sora whipped out his keys from his pocket and quickly unlocked the door. He swung the door open and dashed inside to head to his room. Hopefully, his mom hadn't decided to put a quick load of laundry in that morning and washed "it" along with the load. Thankfully, as Sora entered his room in a huff, he saw that his room had been untouched from that morning.

Finding what he needed sitting on the back of his chair, Sora quickly began to change out of his school uniform into his battling outfit. Thankfully he hadn't worn it since he got back home. Every time he wanted to slip back into it, it just didn't feel right. Though Sora would have liked to be putting this on under different circumstances, he would admit that he did miss wearing it. The power that pulsated through him as the material sat against his skin, it felt like old times.

As Sora walked to his shoes that sat at the end of his bed, he paused before his full length mirror. He stood before it and looked at his reflection as it slowly morphed into Roxas who was wearing his clothing from Twilight Town. Both boys wore faces of serious determination as they looked at the other in silence.

Roxas Broke the silence, "So, it looks like things are going to stir up again."

"So it seems," Sora replied back.

'This time though when you have to fight the Heartless and Nobodies," He pointed at himself with this thumb, "you'll have my strength to borrow to defeat Xemnas once and for all."

Sora gave a smile and nodded. "This time, we'll to it... together."

"You better get a move on before time runs out." Sora gave a little jump to this, remembering his deadline. He quickly ran over to his shoes to slip them on, stubbing his toe on the leg of his bed in his rush. Roxas chuckled at this, his face softening from the slightly lighter mood in the atmosphere. "Hey Sora," Roxas called out, Sora turned his direction to the mirror, "Good luck," he gave a thumbs up while giving Sora the biggest smile. Sora in turn did the same, giving Roxas a big thumbs up and smiling back.

Once Sora got both his shoes on, he stood up and began to head out his room. Even though he had no time to do so, he paused in the doorway and took a glance around his room. He tried not to think about it, but Sora was pretty sure of what was to come. Only being reunited with his home and family for a week, it felt like a long time. He already accepted though that it would be all the time he'd get for now, already in the mind set of what would probably happen whether he wanted it to or not. If it was going to be like before, this would most likely be Sora's last day on Destiny Islands for a time. Though he missed the adventure, there was a part of him that would miss the simplicity of this life, though he had found it to be annoying at times.

With a final glance around the room to take in every detail of the week he had, he summoned his Keyblade in his hand and heaved a sigh as his head bowed down. Then, in an instant, Sora shot his head up and looked to the ceiling in which he now saw the end of his raised Keyblade. He shouted "Wisdom Form," to have a burst of light shoot out from the tip of his Key Blade, making everything go white and sparkly. Sora closed his eyes shut to shield them from the blinding light, and the next thing he knew after opening them once more, his outfit had gone from black and grey to a divine blue and black. He could feel it's power racing through him, a small smile began to grow on his face. It grew into a grin of determination as he crouched a bit in preparation for that first burst.

"I'M COMING, XEMNAS!" was the final words he cried before charging forward and gliding full speed downstairs, out the door back to his destination. Sora could feel both his own and Roxas' heart racing all the while.

* * *

Kairi kept pacing back and forth as she waited for Riku to get down to the office. She looked up at the clock and only a couple of minutes remained before Xemnas would appear. Her anxiousness and her fear grew as she stared at the clock.

"Why don't you sit down in one of the chairs while you wait for your friend, dear," the secretary gestured to the seats near the doors of the office. Kairi gave her a smile and took her advice of sitting down. It didn't exactly calm her, but she figured it'd be better than pacing.

As soon as she settled in though, the door opened up to reveal a some what confused Riku standing in the doorway. He looked down at Kairi, seeing something was wrong by the look on her face. He also took note that Sora wasn't with her, even though they had left class together a few minutes ago. "Kairi's where's Sora? I thought he was with you?"

Kairi stood up and tucked some of her red hair behind her ear, avoiding Riku's gaze. The two friends stood there for a few seconds until Kairi gestured for Riku to go back out into the hall for some privacy. Riku looked even more confused, but instead of questioning it, he went back out into the hall to be followed by Kairi. Once they were out in the hall, and Kairi was sure that nobody was around to eavesdrop, she began to explain the situation to Riku. His face went from confusion to a somewhat fearful look, his eyes widening.

"Well, if Xemnas's on his way, where did Sora go?"

Kairi crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, "I'm pretty sure he went home to go get his outfit."

"If that's the case, then I suppose all we can do is wait here until he comes back to school," Riku crossed his arms as well to wait in patience for Sora's return. He looked up at a nearby clock, "When exactly did Xemnas say he'd 'come by'?"

"He said 'twenty minutes,' but... that was almost nineteen minutes ago." Kairi unfolded her arms and walked up to the center where all the halls met. She looked down the one Sora had left out of before, hoping to see him bursting through to settle her nerves a bit.

Like clockwork, Kairi saw a silhouette figure coming up to the door. She felt lighter already, a small smile appearing on her face. Kairi turned around to face Riku, "He's back," she turned back around to look out at the door, "and not a minute too soon."

Riku walked up beside Kairi, at first having a smile on his face too, and then it suddenly turned into a frown as he stared down at the door. Kairi looked at Riku, confused with his expression. She turned her attention back to the door to see that the person whom she thought it was at the door... wasn't even human at all.

"Riku," Kairi barely managed to say as she saw the door slowly open, a slinky white figure appearing from behind it. The Nobody slowly made it's way towards to two teens, Kairi could feel her heart racing as she remembered the last time she saw one of these, her eyes widening. The Nobodies almost look more terrifying than the Heartless... the ones that looked like the one approaching them.

"Stand back, Kairi," said Riku, his Way to the Dawn Keyblade appearing in his hand. "I don't know where Sora is, but we'll juts have to start without him." He hunched over into his fighting stance, ready for an attack. He kept his eyes on the Nobody as it creeped it's way toward them. Riku wondered why it was taking it's time making its way over. It clearly saw them, so why was it doing this?

Almost as soon as he realized what was going on, he received a tap on the shoulder from Kairi who was pointing in the direction of two more heading their way.

"So, it seems Xemnas is just as sly as ever," He turned around to face Kairi, "Can you still summon the Destiny's Embrace Keyblade that I gave you at the Castle That Never Was?"

Kairi shook her head, "I... I don't know. I haven't tried since I had to use it that one time."

Riku turned to face the Nobodies, "Well, try to figure out how to do so. Until Sora gets here, I'm going to need your help." He quickly glanced her way, "I'll give you a hint: It has to do with your heart."

As Kairi tried, they both held a stance to await an attack. Only seconds later, one of the Nobodies quickly slithered foward as the rest followed in the attack. Riku lunged forward with his Keblade extended to counter.


	6. Chapter 6

**SO, it's been a long time since I've posted a new chapter. I sincerely apologize. I had writers block, then I became too busy to write, then I went through some issues with school that kinda lead to depression, and now I'm back on my feet. I'm on my winter break, so who knows, perhaps I'll be writing more within these four weeks off. Hope that the wait was worth it. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6

The world sped past him, as Sora gracefully glided over the ground. Even as he drew closer to the school, he wasn't ben the slightest bit worried anymore. Instead, he had filled himself up with confidence, because he one that he'd have his friends by his side.

Sora turned the corner, seeing the school at the end of the stretched out street. He increased his speed at its site. As soon as he became close enough to the doors, Sora reverted out of his Wisdom Form. Reaching out his hand to open the doors, something through the small window caught Sora's eye, they widened at the site before him.

Riku was defending himself and Kairi against a group of Nobodies that had attacked. Sora ripped open the door and became to strike at the nearest Nobody, making his way to his friends. Anger began to seethe through him, not being there in time to help out his friends. How had time slipped by so quickly? Then again, he knew deep down that this would have been inevitable, knowing Xemnas.

"FIAGRA," cried Sora, creating a powerful burning ring of fire around himself, taking out three Nobodies at once.

Riku turned his attention to Sora, who now approached and stood by his side. "Glad you could make it," said Riku, giving a small grin. Kairi also smiled at the site of Sora, glad to see he came back unharmed and by their side again.

Under the current circumstances, Sora decided to forgive himself (for now), giving a smile right back at the two. He then returned his attention back to the battle before him, just dodging one of the Nobodies clawed attack.

Nearly forgetting they were in the schools hallway, the three of them could hear the secretary in the office screaming at the site of the battle taking place before her. she disappeared for a short time, returning with the Principle by her side, carrying what seemed to be a bat in hand. Before Sora or Riku could stop him, their Principle came marching out, and took a good swing at the nearest Nobody before him. To no surprise, the hit had only temporarily stunned it, before the Nobody shook off the blow. It raised its clawed fingers to attack.

In that split second, Sora tucked and rolled towards the Principle, rising up in time to barely block the shot. The two tumbled back into the secretary, who stood nearby, right back into the office doorway. All three regained their balance after standing up.

The Principle looked at Sora, with shock and terror on his face, "What in the world is going on? What are you doing?!" He still gripped the bat in hand as he saw the Nobodies behind Sora.

Looking both in the eye, with a calm look on his face, Sora couldn't find the exact words to tell them, he heaved a small sigh. The truth was, everyone here, except Riku and perhaps Kairi, were unable to help, because the fate of their world and all worlds rested on the wielder of the Keyblade. Only, how do you get that across to a bunch of adults, unwilling to listen to logical reason, and will most likely deem you crazy? Even though the truth is right in front of them. They would say, "What are you saying? Leave this to an adult," only to have to jump in and save them from their own doom.

Taking in a deep breath, Sora finally gave something of an answer, "I can't tell you now, but," the look on Sora's face became serious, "I promise that in time, I will explain everything." With that, he quickly turned on his heel, and lunged forward to attack an approaching Nobody.

Riku had already, for the most part, got rid of the majority of Nobodies. They just kept popping up, but the numbers were finally starting to dwindle. With the few that were left, both Riku and now Sora, who came back to Riku's side, stood back to back. Each took a swing at the Nobody before them until none were left standing.

They stood there in silence, then Riku was the first to speak, "This felt too easy, don't you think?"

Sora nodded his head in agreement, "I'd say, this battle is far from over."

"If that's the case," Riku took a step back, both friends now turned to face one another, "I think that we should help get the school evacuated."

Again, Sora nodded in agreement, "Alright then, then you and Kairi go help, I'll stay behind and-"

"No way," Kairi interrupted, her hands clenched into fists, "You shouldn't be on your own." Her head dropped, "I know that I can't fight right now, since I'm unable to call out to the Keyblade Riku gave me, but," she looked back up, looking directly into Sora's eyes, "you and Riku should at least stick together, since you HAVE Keyblade's," gesturing to the weapons in their hands.

Sora walked up to Kairi and stood before her, the Keyblade shining out of his hand. His hand that bared the Keyblade reached out, finding Kairi's hand, fingers weaving through hers. The other hand cupped over on top, "And that's exactly why I want you and Riku to stay together. Riku's strong, and if anything happens, he'll be able to protect the both of you." A small, soft smile appeared on his face, his blue eyes sparkled slightly, "Trust me?"

Kairi's heart fluttered like a bird from everything she was feeling all at once in that moment. She knew it was selfish of her to want Sora by her side all the time, but… she couldn't help it. Deep down though, she knew Sora at this point would be better off on his own instead of having to baby sit her, like a defenseless child. If only she could just summon her Keyblade. Then her friends wouldn't have to worry any longer.

Placing her free hand on top of Sora's, looking down at them, she heaved a sigh of defeat and looked back up into Sora's eyes, "Make sure you stay safe." She gave a gentle squeeze with both hands.

Sora released his hands to wrap his arms around her, pulling Kairi into an embrace. "I will," he whispered into her ear. Kairi wrapped her arms around Sora as well, they both gave a quick, gentle squeeze before releasing themselves from one another. Kairi then made her way towards Riku, the two of them heading down the hall.

"Hey!" Sora cried out to the two of his friends, both Riku and Kairi looking back. He held a thumbs up and had a giant "Sora Smile" on his face. Riku chuckled and shook his head, then the two friends disappeared down the hall, leaving Sora standing alone, his smile now all but gone.

His face became serious, and began to walk back out the way he came, the Keyblade now reappeared in hand.

* * *

From the rooftop of a home, a silver haired man in a black coat looked down at the school before him. A small smirk of confidence appear on his face, for this time, he knew his plan would not fail. Though his pawns of Organization XIII gone, he knew in time all would be as it should, as it was. Especially when it came to his special pawn. Once he was obtained, he'd never let him go again.

A swirling black portal formed behind him at the site of a boy with brown, spiky hair appearing from the school. The man's smirk now turned into a wickedly wide smile. "Soon, all will be mine."

Xemnas turned on his heel, walking into the swirling black hole, engulfing itself after he passed through.

* * *

Feeling his heart beat steadily faster, Sora closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, trying to decrease his heart rate. He knew it was more from feeling anxious than anything, but there was a thought that kept bugging him in the back of his mind. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to send Riku and Kairi to evacuate the school. Last time when Sora battled Xemnas, he had Riku by his side, and they defeated him together. What if Xemnas had become stronger, even in such a short period of time? Let's face it, they sort of had a slightly hard enough time the first time through. If he had become stronger, then how was Sora going to do it alone? He really hoped his theory was incredibly off.

"Sora, you'll be fine," said Roxas, his voice echoing through Sora's mind. "So long as you believe in your power and strength, I know you'll get through this. Besides, you're never truly alone," he chuckled.

Chuckling himself, Sora smiled and nodded in agreement. "You're right. Thanks, Roxas." He heaved a small sigh, "Still, I wish someone were here now."

As Sora became lost in his thoughts, a dark swirl began to form before him, becoming as big and tall as a door. Sora's attention turned to the dark swirl before him, he readied his stance with Keyblade in hand. A figure with long, flowing silver hair in a black coat emerged through the dark aura, chuckling in an ominous matter. Sora's eyes narrowed at the person standing before him.

"Why, if it isn't Sora, master of the Keyblade," Xemnas said, as his cold eyes stared into Sora's. "How have things been for you since you've destroyed my plans?" He gave a menacing laugh.

With the presence of Xemnas finally here, Sora could feel his courage rising higher than he'd even known. He gripped his Keyblade in hand tighter, "Xemnas, making small talk," he smirked, "Well, if you must know, just fine till you showed up."

"Now, now Sora. No need for hurtful words," he gave a imitation of a sincere smile, "I actually have a proposition for you."

Sora gave a snort, "And what makes you think that I'd want to listen to anything you'd have to say?"

Xemnas's face went from that fake sincerity to irritation. In a split second of his mood swing, he lifted his hand and encased Sora in a dark matter in the shape of a cocoon. Sora tried to break himself free, but he couldn't move an inch. It had him tightly squeezed inside. "Oh, I don't think you have much of a choice here, Sora," he slowly walked up to Sora, "My proposition is this," now inches from Sora's face, "give… me… Roxas. If you do, I'll spare you and your precious little island… for the time being."

"WHAT?!" Sora exclaimed, "How would that even be possible?" His eyes narrowed, "Besides, even if there IS a way to separate us, do you honestly think I'd let you? I won't let what happened to Riku to happen to Roxas," his eyes narrowing further, showing spite in his eye," There's no way I'd let you do that to my friend."

A smile formed on Xemnas's face, and then he broke out in a wild, uncontrollable craze of laughter. "Your friend, you say?!" his laughter died down, "Oh Sora, you're so naive."

Sora raised an eyebrow, "Says the man laughing like a lunatic," he shook his head, "How am I naive? Roxas is part of me, and I him."

Xemnas finally stopped his laughter, becoming serious once more. "That answer is still very simple," he rose his other hand, the dark matter increasing and wrapping even tighter around Sora. He gave one last wicked smile as he watched Sora squirm, trying to break free, "You understand… so little," and with that, a charge began. Sora felt as though his body was being ripped in two. Trying not to shout out in pain only made things worse. Just as he was about to close his eyes and concentrate on not passing out, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked over to it, and his eyes widened at the site in pure shock and horror.

A transparent blond haired boy was looking right back at Sora, the same look on his face. As the two became further apart, Roxas became less transparent and more whole. "Yes, yes, it's almost complete," they could here Xemnas, his voice filled with excitement. "Soon, I can rebuild my Organization, and once again, KINGDOM HEARTS!" With that final cry, a blast of darkness broke the cocoon's in half, the two boys falling to the ground.

Both Sora and Roxas sat up and shook off their stunned state. They looked at each other once more with fear in their eyes. If Xemnas was able to do something as outrageous as this, just how much stronger had he become? "Of all times to hit the nail on the head," Sora thought to himself.

* * *

Following behind the teachers that led the way out, Riku and Kairi walked with fast pace. As they were approaching the doors, they saw something dark raging outside. Riku pushed through the teachers, followed by Kairi, heading towards what he knew was most likely a battle between Xemnas and Sora.

Well, he was partially right.

When they burst through the door, they were not expecting to see what before them. Xemnas was standing before Sora on the ground, staring at someone they believed to be within Sora.

"Roxas?" Riku barely got out as he looked at his best friend and his Nobody. Kairi placed a hand over mouth to keep from gasping.

Xemnas noticed Riku, Kairi, and now the rest of the student body pouring out from the school. His eyes only rested on Kairi though, a small smirk on his face. "And now for number two." He raised his hand and the dark cocoon that was once around Sora now surrounded Kairi.

Sora shot up and darted towards Xemnas like a bullet, rage engraved on his face. "MASTER FORM!" Sora cried, his clothes changing to a bright yellow and black. He lept up, performing an arial attack. He swung down hard, but a barrier surrounding Xemnas made Sora bounce right off, sending him flying back from the impact.

He stood back up, his chest rising as he breathed in with anger. He took his stance, conjuring up the magic within him. Sora aimed his Keyblade up to the sky, "THUNDAGA!" A storm of lightning shot out from the tip of the key, raining down a mass of lightning onto Xemnas. Once more, all was in vain, for the barrier reflected the attack off.

Sora didn't want to believe that he wasn't able to do anything to stop what was about to transpire. He just couldn't…

"THUNDAGA! BLIZZAGA!" Sora kept shouting out different spells, hoping that he'd be able to somehow break through the barrier that Xemnas had conjured. Just as he was about to cast another spell, he heard someone cry "SORA". Sora turned to the direction of the call, seeing Roxas standing with a look of fear on his face. Directly behind Roxas, Sora could see the cocoon of dark matter rising up, about ready to be split into two. His Master Form reverted, turning Sora back to his regular self. "I'm sorry, Kairi," he said aloud quietly, more so to himself. Then, the cocoon of dark matter spilt into two as is did before, revealing Kairi and Namie together.

As the two girls fell to the ground, all you could hear was the crazed laughter of Xemnas in the air. "That was just TOO EASY!" Xemnas said aloud between laughter.

"There's no way it's going to end like this," Roxas said through gritted teeth. He looked at Sora, and as if they were able to read each others minds, they nodded their heads and headed towards the girls. Riku ran towards his friends to join them as well.

"But Roxas," Sora said as they ran, "I thought that we agreed-"

Roxas quickly cut him off, "You guys said no to Riku, not to me. Besides," he looked towards to girls, specifically to Namine, "it's the only means of transportation that we have. If we stay here any longer," Roxas looked back at Sora, "your island will be covered in darkness."

"It's already going to be," Sora thought to himself.

Sora, Roxas, and Riku met up before the girls, helping them to get up as they shook off their stunned states.

"And just where do you think your going?" Xemnas asked the group of friends.

"Look," Roxas spat, "if you're going to fight us, then we're taking the battle somewhere else. Leave their home out of this!"

"Oh, and endanger other worlds in the process," Xemnas waving a finger, "don't you think that's kind of selfish."

"Not if your going to try and destroy other worlds in the process," said Sora, stepping in, "which you've already begun if I might add. Radiant Garden and Twilight Town if I'm not mistaken."

Crossing his arms, Xemnas starred at the group with integument, "How were you able to know such a thing when you're stuck on this island?" He raised a brow, "Perhaps I'm not the only one to gain more power."

"Too bad for you," Roxas smirked, "I suppose you'll never find out." A swirling bit of dark matter formed behind the group of friends.

"You know that I'll be able to find you, no matter where you go?" Xemnas's voice becoming menacing.

Riku stepped forward as Sora and Roxas took Kairi and Namine through the swirling dark matter. "Well then, I suppose we'll just have to make sure you never do." Riku then took a step back, letting the dark matter engulf itself.

Xemnas was left standing on his own. He gritted his teeth in anger, then released the tension. "No matter," he said aloud to himself, forming his own swirling dark matter, "I don't need them just yet for my plans, anyhow."

As Xemnas stepped through, and the dark matter engulfed itself, some of the students noticed something weird stirring in the crowd. A tall, slinky white figure, with the symbol of the Nobodies on its face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone. I've been gone for a long time once again. I got a little busy during my second semester, but now that it's summer, and I'm done with all my major summer activities, I'd like to dedicate more time to this fan fic (especially since game #3 is due to be released sometime in the near future)**

Chapter 7

All that could be heard in the room was the ticking of the clock, the tapping of his fingers, and the sound of Pluto in a deep sleep next to him.

Mickey sat at his desk in the library, waiting for Donald and Goofy to arrive. He had summoned them not too long ago, so he hoped that they'd be there soon. Mickey put his fingers to his temples. He had hoped that the darkness would be suppressed for a time at least, never had he thought that it would rise up so soon.

Just then, the giant doors of the Library swung open, Donald entering through, followed by Goofy. Mickey sat up straight in his chair, gesturing for them to stand before him with his hand. He smiled, but it was weary. Goofy was the first to speak up.

"Gawrsh, your highness. What seems to be the trouble?"

Mickey heaved a sigh before he began, looking both in the eye, "Fellas, as you know, I returned from Master Yensid's not long ago," he looked down, "and I'm afraid I bring bad news."

"Well, your Majesty," said Donald, "we're more than happy to help you out, whatever it may be." With this said, both friends saluted to the King in unison.

Mickey's smile brightened a little, "I'm glad to hear it," he stood up and walked around to the front of this desk to face Donald and Goofy, "and I'm sure Sora will be, too."

Both dropped their hands as their faces lit up, followed by concern. "Sora?" Both said aloud.

"Oh no," Goofy said aloud, "I sure hope Sora hasn't run into any trouble?"

Donald tried to show that he wasn't worried, folding his arms and standing tall, "Sora will be fine…" he looked to Mickey, "Right, your Majesty?"

"Well, according to Master Yensid, perhaps not." Shock washed over Donald and Goofy's faces as Mickey looked to them, trying to keep himself neutral, "Xemnas went to Destiny Island and did something none of us anticipated," now he looked down, not meeting Donald and Goofy's anticipated faces. "He was able to separate Roxas and Namine from Sora and Kairi."

"What does this mean then?" Donald asked, sounding distraught.

Mickey looked back up, "Fellas, it means that you will have to once more accompany Sora on his journey." A stern look transpired on his face as he grinned, "Go forth and defeat the darkness once again, and this time," he brought his hand up and clenched it into a powerful fist, "let's seal it away for good."

Donald and Goofy both saluted once more in unison, then quickly took off out of the Library. Mickey watched his two friends as they left, the giant doors closing behind them. He looked up to the ceiling, "Please let them be safe," saying quietly to himself. He returned to his desk and sat down. Pluto by that point had woken up from his nap, looking up at Mickey. He patted the drowsy dogs head, and reached for a piece of parchment in a drawer. Taking the quill sitting on the top of the desk, he heaved a sigh and began to write.

* * *

Atop the rooftop of Merlin's, Yuffie could see the market of Radiant Garden a buzz, a soft smile on her face. "Good," she said aloud to herself, "so far, there's been no Heartless activity today."

Just then below her, she saw swirling dark matter, the size of a door, form near the front steps. Yuffie reached for her Scythe next to her, "Of course, I spoke too soon," saying aloud in a frustrated voice. She jumped off the roof, lading before the dark matter. She took her stance, readying herself for whatever was about the appear before her. Instead of the Heartless, to her surprise, a boy with flipped up blonde hair and blue eyes came through and stood before her. In a way, he looked oddly familiar, yet Yuffie knew that she'd never seen this boy before… and yet…

Just then, four more people came through, two of which were familiar faces. Yuffie heaved a sigh of relief, relaxing out of her stance, "Man, am I glad to see you, Sora. I thought you guys were another swarm of Heartless," then she turned her attention to the rest of the group, shining a big smile, "as for the rest of you, welcome to Radiant Garden."

As she scanned over the unfamiliar faces, she stopped on Kairi. Yuffie knew that she knew this girl from somewhere before, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. A look of pondering on her face,"Now, for sure I know you…" Just as Kairi was about to answer, a form of realization struck Yuffie, "Wait, I've got this," she stared more intensely now, "You're…," then like lightning, it hit her, "You're Kairi!"

A big smile of warmth grew on Kairi's face, "That's right," she looked over to Sora, "Sora brought me to Traverse Town to stay with your group before I was sent back to the island."

Yuffie nodded, her arms crossed, "Well, I'm glad to know you remained safe and sound. Only," a puzzled look spread on her face, "what are you doing here now, and not on your island?"

The group looked at one another, then Sora spoke up, "It's kind of a long story. We'd better go inside and discuss it."

* * *

As the group finished with their story, Yuffie, Aerith, and Leon sat there, letting it sink in.

"Well, that explains why the heartless have become active again in a short period of time," Leon said, standing with his arms crossed, looking down at the floor with a frustrated look on his face.

Aeirth was sitting down on a nearby chair, but instead of frustration like Leon, her face had a soft smile upon it. "I'm just glad that everyone is safe and sound," she looked towards where Roxas and Namine sat in the room, "and I'm glad that we were able to meet the two of you as well."

Both Namine and Roxas smiled back, but Roxas's felt a lot more forced. He had an uneasy feeling. Being in the room with everyone just didn't feel right, like he was invading something personal. While everyone got wrapped up in conversation, his eyes wandered towards Sora. He thought that he was alright with what he was. But now, seeing Sora amongst everyone… actually belonging. He had a history with these people, unlike himself and Namine. He wondered if they would be of any help to these people… or if they would end up bringing everyone down? Roxas knew that even now, Namine and himself were probably being hunted down by Xemnas. He still wondered what motive he had with them? He had hoped he would be able to come up with an alternative idea, but it seemed that there would probably be no other choice. Time was of the essence.

"Yo, Earth to Roxas!" Sora cried, snapping Roxas back from his thoughts, making him jump. Sora smirked at Roxas, and continued on sharing his idea to the group. "So like I was saying, I think that Roxas and Namine should patrol Twilight Town, while Kairi stays here to do some training with Riku and I. Maybe if she does that, she'll be able to wield her Keybalde in no time, and then we can try and get in contact with the King."

Leon nodded in agreement, "That might be the best plan of action. From what you guys have told us, more Nobodies are in Twilight Town than Heartless. Your best bet is to have Roxas fending off the Nobodies in the area, if there are any, and have Namine gather information to relay back here."

Riku elbowed Sora, "Since when did you get so smart?"

"Shut up, you," chuckled Sora, landing a punch on Riku's shoulder. He quickly regretted it, shaking his hand better.

All Roxas could do was stand there, bewildered. What he thought would be his only option had actually become his best option. Who would have thought that Sora would have come up with the same idea for himself and Namine as he had done? And better yet, everyone thought it was a good idea, and that it would be an asset to the team.

"Well, if Roxas and I are to take care of Twilight Town," said Naime, standing up, "we'd best be on our way." Roxas nodded in agreement, joining Namine's side. "Thank you all for everything," she gave a little bow of her head, and began her descent out the door, Roxas doing the same.

Just as Roxas walked through the doorway behind Namine, his felt his arm being grabbed, making him jerk back slightly. He looked back to see Sora's hand wrapped around his forearm, his eyes with a worried look in them. "Roxas, you're not planing on getting there the way I think you're planning on getting there, right?" Sora took a step forward, "We'll figure out a way to get you guys there. Just," his voice cracked slightly, "just don't go that way."

Suddenly, Sora could feel a small, gentle hand on his, loosening his grip on Roxas. It madevhim let go, looking up to see Namine now cupping Sora's hand within hers. She smiled a soft smile, looking down at Sora's hand, "I'm glad that you're worried for us," she then looks up into Sora's eyes, "but, you don't have to worry. I promise that the two of us will be okay, alright?"

Sora looks into the eyes of both Namine and Roxas, then heaves a sigh, putting on a brave face for his friends. "I supposed if I can't stop you," he gives a small smile, "I'll have to just see you off."

Namine smiles back and nods, "We'll see each other again soon." She lets go of Sora's hand and begins to walk back to Roxas. Dar, swirling matter the size of a door appears before them in front of the doorway.

Roxas turns his head towards Sora and smiles back, "Yeah, we'll be back together before you know it." The two of them give a little wave of their hand at Sora before entering the dark matter. Sora begins to wave back, but just as he begins to wave, Namine and Roxas are quickly sucked into the dark matter, and the matter dissolves into thin air as it disappears.

Sora stands on his own for a second, looking at where Namine and Roxas stood a moment before, slowly letting his hand drop. "I sure hope that we meet again soon." He looked down at his hand, clenching it into a fist, "I sure hope so."

* * *

He stood in the shadows, his hood drawn up to conceal his face. The sunset was quite beautiful, just like the many times he had seen it before. He gave a little chuckle to himself, then had another bite of his sea salt ice cream.

The whole thing had been quite strange since he woke up back in Twilight Town. Vivid images of his last battle with Sora against all the Nobodies that blocked their path. He still didn't understand exactly how he had been able to come back.

He most certainly died.

But somehow, he also hadn't.

The last thing that he remembered after disappearing from existence was a bright light, everything around him white. It had felt so warm, the light that surrounded him. He could see his true self, and everything that he had once imagined he felt had become real. It made him feel dejected though, because he knew that he would never be able to feel any of those emotions again.

Suddenly, a stain glassed floor appeared beneath him, an image of himself, Roxas, and Sora, all united. A voice within asked, "What do you truly desire?" That made him chuckle. What did he want? He looked towards the image of Roxas, and he suddenly felt a longing. "What I want," he said aloud, "is to be with the people I care for, and protect them." He looked up into the white abyss, "I want to be by the side of those I care about!" Then, the next thing he knew, he was on his back, looking up at the sky by the gates of the Old Mansion.

Just then, he heard laughter from a nearby group of teens, bringing him back out of his thoughts. Deciding to not question how he had got there, but to be thankful that he was still even alive, he finished off what remained of the now melting Sea Salt ice-cream in his hand. But, as the trio of teens walked by, dark matter the size of a door appeared, catching his eye. Pulling back his hood, revealing his fiery red hair, he steped out of the shadows, shock on his face.

"How in the hell…?" was all he could manage before Roxas and Namine looked in the direction of where Axel stood.


End file.
